


Trouble seems to follow

by Nera_Solani



Series: Angel of Dreams [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Awkward Conversations, BAMF Castiel (Supernatural), BAMF Dean Winchester, BAMF Tara, Bottom Dean, Canon-Typical Violence, Cas can talk dirty, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Castiel is a Good Boyfriend, Crowley is a friend of the Winchesters, Dorks in Love, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Established Relationship, Fallen Angel Castiel (Supernatural), First Time Bottoming, First Time Topping, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Human Castiel, Human Castiel in the Bunker, I still can't do short, Implied/Referenced Switching, Kissing, Lucifer (Supernatural) Not Being an Asshole, Lucifer can be nice, M/M, Making Out, Sam Ships It, Sam always gets too much information, Sam feels a bit left out, Sam is Not Amused, Sam regrets trying to tease his brother, Smut, Swearing, Tags Are Fun, Tara Ships it, Tara has questionable morals, Tara is a little Shit, Top Castiel, Torture, a ridiculous amount of time jumps, dean is a good boyfriend, homophobic angels, strange foam bath metaphor, unnecessary Marvel conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 07:43:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13430112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nera_Solani/pseuds/Nera_Solani
Summary: When Dean and Castiel get abducted, Sam and Tara almost literally move heaven and hell to get them back and Tara shows a side of her that we haven't seen before…





	Trouble seems to follow

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still alive and here comes the second sequel to 'About angels, humans and everything in-between'! It got longer again and very plotty. There are more than a few time jumps back and forth in here, but there was just no other way, so bear with me and tell me if anything is too confusing.
> 
> I really wanted to explore the idea of Tara showing a darker side of herself than we've seen so far. She's become a warrior during her time in heaven and she would do anything to protect her friends and family, even if some of her views regarding that might be a bit questionable...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

“Lucifer!”, Tara’s voice rang sharp as a knife through the halls of Heaven, causing him to look up from what he was doing.

When she entered, her face was grim, wings half-spread in a daring manner. She pointed a finger at him and growled, “I swear to Chuck, Amara and the entirety of creation, if you have something to do with this, I will _end_ you!”

Lucifer raised his arms in an attempt to deescalate the situation, she wasn’t someone to mess with, especially not when she was fuming like that, “Whoa, calm down! What should I have done again?”

Tara seemed to scan him for a moment, probably trying to evaluate his honesty, then she blinked at him, “So, you haven’t…?”

“Haven’t what? I haven’t done anything forbidden if that’s what you’re asking. Now, start from the beginning, would you?”

She deflated visibly, drawing her wings in tight, getting a lot smaller by the second, her face still a mask of anger and worry. She rubbed a hand over her face, letting out a deep sigh and said, “Dean and Cas went missing.”

 

_2 hours earlier_

 

Six months, Sam thought to himself, shaking his head with a smile. Almost six months had passed since Dean and Cas had gotten together. And in those six months, he’d walked in on them, being pressed up against each other, leaning against the kitchen counter, the hallway wall, and really any flat surface they could get to. Of course also the Impala. By now, he got used to silently backing out of rooms unnoticed when he still had the chance.

He'd pointedly shut his ears to certain noises he heard on the rare occasions he dared pass their room when he knew they were both in there. He'd walked beside them, smiling down at their joined hands and he would swear, if anyone asked him, he could feel a sense of completeness wash over Dean any time Cas was close to him. And Sam loved that Dean was happy, and that Cas was the one making him happy, more than anything else in the world… he’d just assumed that they might have… that the need they had for each other might have… that they should’ve at least worn themselves out a little after all that time, right?

Apparently not. He groaned to himself, laughing. It was kinda ridiculous, really.

He took longer than necessary to pay for their drinks at the bar — anything to kill a little time. He knew it didn't matter either way. If he went back immediately, or in five minutes, or five hours even. Without interruption, Dean and Cas would be happily wrapped around each other, oblivious to everything around them. For all he knew the world could be ending and they wouldn’t notice… They hadn't seen each other for a whole day after all, with the case getting in the way, and it would be asking far too much of a couple who’d been together coming up for half a year, of course.

After having wrapped up the case, they’d decided to have some downtime and had chosen to spend that downtime at the local bar. It was a nice place, but Sam was getting tired and it got late, so they prepared to leave. Or at least Sam did, because his brother only had eyes for the fallen angel beside him. Sam walked back to their table, clearing his throat loudly, “You ready to leave?”

Dean jumped a little as though he hadn’t even realized Sam was standing there, before his brain kicked into gear again and while Cas grabbed the trench coat he’d placed next to him on the bench, he stood up, “Yep, let’s go.”

When they stepped out into the cool night air, they were greeted by a soft breeze that reminded Sam of the beat of Tara’s wings. He’d like to see her more often. She visited as often as she could, Sam knew that, but it wasn’t as often as it used to be. As they made their way to the nearby parked Impala, he absentmindedly wondered if they’d get to see her more often after their death. She was busy, he understood that, with all the responsibilities she had it wasn’t surprising. She was a leader now and that meant, she had to take care of the angels who were following her lead. Even Lucifer. Sam shuddered.

“Crap, I forgot my jacket in the bar. I’ll be right back.”, he announced.

“Alright, but hurry up, I’m gettin’ tired.”, Dean told him, putting an arm around Cas as they walked.

Back inside the building, Sam quickly headed to the table they’d been sitting at and was relieved to find his jacket still lying there in the booth. He grabbed it and put it right on, already walking back towards the exit. When he opened the door, there was this fresh waft of air again, caressing his face and blowing his hair in all directions. After having brushed his hair behind his ears again, he started to make his way towards the car, when he suddenly heard something that sounded like a fight. Then the voice of his brother, laced with horror and panic rang in his ears, crying out, “CAS, NO!”

Sam’s heart was in his throat as he sprinted towards the Impala. He couldn’t see them. Why did this parking space have to be so dimly lit?? When he finally reached the car, no one was there. Dean and Cas were nowhere to be seen. The dark night around him was dead silent. Sam looked at the black car in front of him. There were no scratches or anything, no signs of a fight. His brother and best friend were just… gone. Sam scanned his surroundings for possible clues on who might have taken them, when he noticed the keys to the Impala lying on the floor. Sam’s heart sank. He needed help to find them. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Tara, this is an emergency. I need your help.”

Before he could even go on, he heard a flap of wings, accompanied by a gush of wind and she was standing beside him.

“What happened?”, she asked in a serious voice.

Sam took a deep breath and let it all out in one go, “I left them alone for a minute to get my jacket and when I came back out I heard Dean yelling and something that sounded like struggle and when I reached the car they were just- just _gone_.”

Tara’s eyes widened for a short moment, before she switched to professional, her eyes stern and jaw set. She looked around the parking lot, mumbling more to herself than to anyone else, “The street lamps are broken, no one would see anything. It’s the perfect place to kidnap someone…”

At that statement, Sam perked up, “Actually, now that you say it… the street lamps were fine when we arrived here.”

Tara sniffed the air once, twice. _Sulfur…_

“Sam, what exactly do you remember? Any detail after you left the building.”, she commanded.

“Um… I- I opened the door, the wind blew my hair into my face so I brushed it back, then I heard Dean scream for Cas and it sounded like they were struggling, but I couldn't see anything because of the broken street lights. I ran here as fast as I could, but they were already gone, nowhere to be seen. I found the keys to the Impala lying down here on the floor and then I prayed to you. That’s all.”

“Wait, you said the wind blew your hair into your face?”, Tara inquired.

“Y- Yeah. Why is that important?”, Sam replied a little impatiently.

“Sam. It’s not windy.”

His eyes widened. She was right, there was no wind whatsoever, he didn’t have to straighten his hair _once_ since she was here.

“What does that mean?”, he asked confusedly.

“Sam…”, Tara’s voice sounded troubled, “Drive home.”

“What, but Cas and Dean…”, he started but she cut him off with a stern voice, “ _Sam_. I need you to get into that car _right now_ and don’t stop driving until you’re back at the bunker. Understand?”

It wasn’t a question, a request or even a suggestion. It was an order.

“Sam, _now_.”, she insisted.

He swallowed, “Yeah, okay.”

“I’ll come along later.”, she told him.

Sam got into the car and drove off, leaving Tara behind in the dark parking lot. She looked around at the shards of the broken street lamps, her skin crawling with a terrible suspicion.

 

_An undefined amount of time later_

 

Dean jerked awake with a thought of Cas. Blinking open his eyes, he dared taking a deep breath and was greeted with an intense smell of sulfur. That wasn’t good.

“Cas?”, he called into the darkness of the room, his voice hoarse. There came no answer.

Memories flooded back into his mind. They’d been standing at the car, waiting for Sam to come back, joking, having fun, when suddenly some guys had shown up, grabbing Cas and holding him still. Dean had tried to fight them, but they’d disappeared with Cas and then there had been hands grabbing him. And now he was here. But where the fuck was _here_?

He glanced around the room, willing his eyes to adjust faster to the darkness. When they finally did — which took way too long in Dean’s opinion — he saw only a blank room. Empty. It didn’t even have windows. Maybe a basement or something. Cas wasn’t there. Where did they take him? Was he okay? Was he even still alive? Oh God, what if… No, Dean was still alive, so the chances were high that Cas was too. At least Dean needed to think that at the moment for the sake of his sanity. It wasn’t hard for him to notice that he was cuffed to a metal chair, but as he turned to look at the cuffs, he noticed runes on them, though it was too dark to make out what kind of runes they were. Great. So, he wouldn’t get outta here anytime soon. Someone here must know a little about the Winchester tendency to break free from restraints… Who were these guys anyway? And what the Hell did they want from them? Dean just hoped they hadn’t taken Sam hostage too.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from outside the big metal door and then said door was opened with a loud creak. He could make out the silhouettes of four people stepping through the door, the last of them turned on the light. He squinted against the brightness for a moment, before his eyes adjusted once more and he could see the people in front of him. Three men and one woman. He’d never seen one of them before.

“Who are you? What do you want? Where’s Cas?!”, Dean demanded.

“Oh, don’t you worry, your fallen pet-angel is being taken care of.”, one of them replied and the grin on his face was all wrong. Dean felt sick with the thought of Cas being hurt.

“I swear, if you touch him, I’m gonna tear you to shreds.”, he growled, but it came out a little weaker than intended.

The man — probably a demon — only chuckled and said, “You really _do_ care for him, don’t you? Maybe we can make use of that later…”

Dean didn’t answer. He only glared for a moment, then barked at them, “Who are you?”

“Oh, you don’t remember us?”, the woman asked.

“I’m disappointed, Dean.”, another one said.

Then the one who’d spoken first (maybe their leader or something) stepped in front of Dean, “You _made_ us. But I didn’t expect you to recognize us, we _are_ looking quite different now…”

Now Dean’s eyes widened in realization. No, that couldn't be…

“Ah, so you _do_ remember.”

“Yeah, I do and I’m sorry. If I could make it undone, I would, okay? But I can’t and I probably deserve what you’re planning to do with me, but Cas has nothing to do with this!”

“Aww, so protective… But actually, he kinda has. He saved you after all, leaving us behind to become what we are now.” At that cue, their eyes simultaneously turned black.

“No, he just followed orders, he’s not responsible for what happened to you! Just let him go!”, Dean demanded, pulling on his restraints.

“Ah… you’re probably right. He was still a mindless soldier at that time… But I can’t do anything for him, that’s not in my hand.”

“What?”

“Now, shall we begin?”, the demon asked with a sickening grin on his face, “Welcome to your personal Hell, Dean Winchester.”

 

_Simultaneously_

 

“Lucifer!”, Tara’s voice rang sharp as a knife through the halls of Heaven and he looked up from what he was doing.

When she entered, her face was grim, wings half-spread in a daring manner. She pointed a finger at him and growled, “I swear to Chuck, Amara and the entirety of creation, if you have something to do with this, I will _end_ you!”

Lucifer raised his arms in an attempt to deescalate the situation — she wasn’t someone to mess with, especially not when she was fuming like that, “Whoa, calm down! What should I have done again?”

Tara seemed to scan him for a moment, probably trying to evaluate his honesty, then she blinked at him, “So, you haven’t…?”

“Haven’t what? I haven’t done anything forbidden if that’s what you’re asking. Now, start from the beginning, would you?”

She deflated visibly, drawing her wings in tight, getting a lot smaller by the second, her face still a mask of anger and worry. She rubbed a hand over her face, letting out a deep sigh and said, “Dean and Cas went missing.”

He blinked at her, “Come again?”

“They’re just gone! Someone took them and I need to find out who!”

“Okay and how did you think of me?”

“There were hints for demons, but… also angels.”

“Hold up, what hints exactly?”

She sighed again, “Smell of sulfur. A gush of wind, like it might be caused by angels using their powers or beating with their wings, even though that wouldn’t be of much use and the street lights were broken. Demons don’t cause something like that.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened, “Demons and angels working together?”

“Yeah, I think so…”

“But why would they?”

“I don’t know!”, she whined, throwing her arms up in frustration.

“Okay, and why are you so distressed about that? It’s not like they haven’t been in dangerous situations before, I mean they faced _me_. And you’re an excellent example for an angel working with a demon…”, he pointed out.

That comment earned him a raised eyebrow, “I’m just gonna pretend, I didn’t hear that, but whatever. I am distressed about this, because this is _huge_! I mean, angels and demons hate each other. Crowley and me are an exception, yes, but _this_ … Dean and Cas can’t win this fight on their own… They finally found happiness and I am going to do everything in my power to help them keep that happiness, Chuckdammit!”

“I see… Now, how do we proceed?”, he asked.

“Wait, you’ll help me?”

He rolled his eyes, “Yes, you can be very convincing… And Castiel is still kinda my little brother. So, what’s the plan?”

She straightened up again, shaking out her wings, “We need to find out who took them. That’ll make it easier to find them. You go and investigate here in Heaven, I’ll have a chat with Crowley.”

Lucifer nodded.

 

Crowley was sitting on his throne, nipping on a glass of scotch when he heard a fluttering of wings and familiar voice to his right, “Crowley, I need your help.”

He smiled warmly (well, for a demon at least) and said, “Of course, dear. What got your panties in a twist?”

“Dean and Cas were abducted.”

That answer came so unexpected that he almost spit out his drink and ended up breaking into a coughing fit, “Excuse me?”

“They were taken almost three hours ago by an unknown group of angels and demons. I was hoping you could help me with the demon part.”

Turning serious in an instant, he replied, “I’ll do my best. Let’s not waste anymore time then…” He stood up from his throne and had one of his best demons come to them.

When Zagam entered the throne room with his tablet computer, he flinched slightly at the sight of Tara. She’d gained a reputation among them by now and it couldn’t mean anything good that he was called to meet her…

He bowed, in an effort to not get killed and greeted nervously, “Good day, sire. W- What gives me the honor of this meeting?”

“Calm down, she’s not here to kill you.”, Crowley stated with a bored tone to his voice.

“She- She’s not?”

“No, I’m not.”, she confirmed, then said, “Now come over here and sit down. We have serious business to attend to.”

The demon calmed a little and hesitantly did as he was told.

When he was finally seated with them, Crowley started to speak, “Zagam, you’re one of my best. An excellent IT-specialist and a brilliant analyst. You are always well informed and that’s exactly what we need right now.”

The demon seemed to sun himself in his king’s compliments and lastly perked up, “What do you want me to do, sir?”

“We need information about a group of demons, who might have chosen disobedience.”

Zagam looked confused at that request, so Tara decided to join the conversation, “Listen Zag, they might have talked about angels working with demons or about Dean Winchester and Castiel, maybe their relationship to each other. They probably disappeared a few times for no reason and wouldn’t talk about it when asked, hiding it from the king. They would meet up to talk and let no one else in on what they were up to. Have you noticed anything like that?”

The demon turned thoughtful for a moment, replaying her words in his mind, trying to make sense of them. Then, for a short moment, his eyes widened in surprise and realization, before his expression turned a little pained.

“What is it? Tell her what you know.”, Crowley demanded.

Zag let out a sigh, “Your description fits almost perfectly for four demons. They’ve been separating their little group from the other demons recently, whispering about angels and a mysterious plan. I didn’t think much of it, since they would never be able to take on _angels_ , but… if you’re looking for them now, they must’ve been planning something big…”

“Tell me everything about them you can.”, Tara told him.

“Their names are Belial, Vapula, Haures and Andras.”, he started to tap on the screen of his tablet, recalling their data, “Andras is the oldest of them and something like their leader. They haven’t been demons for very long, only a few years on earth. Everyone of them was trained by Alastair himself, I assume that’s how they know each other in the first place…”, he was about to go on, but Tara stopped him with a raised finger. She did her best to disguise the horror she felt at the sound of that all too familiar name.

“Alastair. He was their teacher?”, she inquired.

“Yes, that is, until he was killed by the younger Winchester.”

Tara closed her eyes for a moment, a terrible suspicion crawling up her spine, “Who was the one to strap them onto the rack for the first time?”

Zag took a moment to retrieve that piece of information from his tablet and then answered, with a tinge of surprise to his voice, “Dean Winchester.”

Tara’s expression became pained, her mouth turned sour. She’d hoped to Chuck that she would be wrong, but her worst suspicion had turned out right.

“How can I find them?”

“You can try to summon them, but in case that doesn’t work, I’d attempt a location spell if I was you.”, Zag replied, handing her the tablet with all instructions for the rituals. She nodded in understanding, emailed the informations to herself and handed the tablet back to him. Then she mumbled her thanks, assured Crowley she’d keep him informed and disappeared.

 

_In the meantime_

 

Breathing was hard for Dean as the demon kept slicing through his flesh, always careful to not do any lethal damage. They wanted him to suffer, that much was clear. And he could understand why. He’d tortured them too, during his time in Hell. If he was in their place, he’d be just as angry. Dean had been saved after all, while they had been left behind to change into demons. Yes, he could understand that. He didn’t even really blame them. But what he _couldn’t_ understand, was what they wanted from Castiel. Revenge because he didn’t save them instead of Dean? Pretty unlikely. However long he thought about it, it just didn’t make sense to him. The leader of the little group kept talking throughout the whole procedure, but he didn’t say anything that could be useful to Dean. At least he knew their names by now.

Dean’s mind kept wandering to Cas. What was being done to him, while Dean was tied up here? Where was he even? He needed to find him somehow. Get them both the fuck outta there. But how? He couldn’t do much while he was still being cut into pieces. He had to wait for an opportunity. However that might present itself. And when… That could take some time. The pain was always there, but he had to sit this out, he’d lived through worse before after all. The long time he’d spent in Hell had given him the ability to completely disappear inside his head if needed. That’s exactly what he had to do now. He closed his eyes and recalled the last evening, right before it all happened…

 

_7 hours earlier_

 

They’d just wrapped up a case of werewolves somewhere in Illinois and decided to have a little fun at the local bar.

They chose a corner booth for a little more privacy, but there weren’t many people in the bar anyway. They had to dust off the seats before sitting down, there was a sticky stain on the table, and the music that was played was solely from the 80s.

But it didn’t really matter, because Cas was there and Dean didn’t want to be anywhere else. Sam was getting more drinks for them, so they had a moment to themselves and Cas smiled at him in a way that lit up his whole world.

Dean had asked himself countless times how it had taken them so long to get here and that night he did too, putting his hand over Cas’, just because he could. Because he wanted to. Not that they could be any closer than in that moment. Cas was leaning into him, comfortably fitted into the crook of his arm, their thighs pressed together. A few patrons of the bar had been giving them strange looks, but Dean didn’t care. Not with the way Cas kept smiling at him, as though there was no other place he’d rather be in the world, as though Dean was his _home_.

“You look happy.”, he said gently, probably gentler than he ever used with other people.

“I am happy.”, Cas told him, his eyes shining with that happiness, and Dean couldn’t do anything else with that but kiss him, raising a hand to cup his face, heart jolting as Cas leaned in the same time as he did. It all came with an easiness that spoke of just how very right this thing was between them.

“So am I.”, he answered, whispering it against Cas’ lips as he let their noses brush, then chasing the taste of him, feeling like he might never get enough. He hoped he wouldn’t.

Dean felt Cas’ fingertips at the nape of his neck, sliding upwards through his hair, holding him just how he wanted. And experiencing how Cas took so easily what was rightfully his never ceased to send a thrill through Dean’s stomach, that then morphed into a warmth reaching through his whole being. A warmth he’d never dared hope for, back when he could only fantasize about having this with Cas.

He was glad that Cas was human now, for many little reasons. Because, although they functioned just fine when they were not together, they did so much better when they were not apart. Because Dean could concentrate better, knowing that Cas was just in touching distance, instead of who the fuck knows where, doing whatever, and not answering his phone. But above all, Dean was glad that Cas was human now, because Cas was happy this way. Happy with the little things he’d never gotten to appreciate before he had taken a vessel. Like the simple feeling of touch, skin on skin — which Dean was more than happy to offer — or even just the enjoyment of tasting good food. Being able to feel emotions fully, not dulled by a grace, and finally knowing where he truly belonged. He belonged with Dean.

Of course the other angels wouldn’t get it, as much as Tara tried to make them understand. But it didn’t matter, because they were happy and they were together.

“And you are sure about this?”, Cas’ voice interrupted Dean’s reverie, looking at him with those insanely blue eyes.

Dean could only smile at him and answer, “Yeah, I’m sure. I want it. Only with you.”

But instead of repressing the urge to kiss each other, they leaned in and did just that. And if they got a little lost in it, so be it. There weren’t many people around anyway and Sam would probably take extra long with their drinks to avoid seeing this. Besides, it wasn’t like they were in a red state. They were pretty safe where they were.

“I love you.”, Cas said then, in that open, honest way he liked to do, as if he wanted to make sure Dean would certainly believe him. Saying the words like they were simple for him, no longer causing him difficulty for fearing Dean’s possible responses.

“Love you too.”, Dean told him immediately, not giving his mind enough time to overthink and silencing that stupid, ever present self-doubt.

Cas beamed at him. Dean felt his fingers dancing up his side as Cas pulled him closer, opening up their kiss a little in a way that told Dean he liked what they had discussed earlier that day very much.

But that’d have to wait, their first time doing this shouldn’t be in a crappy motel room. Dean couldn't wait to be back home in the bunker…

 

_7 hours later_

 

When Dean opened his eyes again, he wasn’t sure how much time had passed. About an hour was his best guess, but he had much bigger problems at the moment anyway. The pain came back with a sharp sting as soon as he was back in reality and he let out a silent groan.

“Oh, look who’s with us again. What were you thinking about, huh?”, Andras asked, but Dean kept quiet. He hadn’t expected an answer anyway.

“Was it that pretty angel of yours? I bet it was.”, the demon sing-songed right before cutting along Dean’s side.

The hunter was about to flee into his thoughts again, when Andras suddenly stilled.

“Huh. Seems like someone’s trying to summon me… Too bad that won’t work, we’ve taken care of that. No one can help you here…”

Sam. Of course he’d try everything to find them, he’d probably informed Tara too. Yeah, Tara and Sam could get them outta here… if they could find them.

“I bet your friends will try a locating spell since the summoning doesn’t work…”, Andras mused, the knife stilling in its movements, “We should be ready and welcome them.”

An evil grin formed on the demon’s face and his eyes turned black. He stowed the bloody knife away and turned to the other demons, who’d been watching the whole process with glee.

“Get the holy oil. We’ll have to make sure that little angel girl doesn’t get in our way.”, he ordered and two of them — Vapula and Belial — gave him a nod and left the room for a moment, only to come back with a jug of holy oil and a lighter.

Andras smiled and gestured them to follow him. They did. Dean was alone. He had to get rid of these runed handcuffs. _Fast_.

 

_At the same time_

 

“Fuck!”, Tara yelled, throwing the entirety of the spell ingredients against the room’s far wall, “It should’ve worked! Why didn’t it work??!”

“They’re probably warded against that kind of spell.”, Lucifer pointed out.

Tara let out a sigh, “Should we still try the locating spell?”

Lucifer shrugged, “Why not?”

She nodded, massaging her temples, “Get everything ready then. I’ll call Sam.”

While the archangel did as he was told, she took her phone and dialed Sam’s number, “Hey Sam, where are you?”

“I’m back at the bunker, anything new?”

“Okay good, you should be safe there. Yes, actually, I have some information. They were probably taken by a group of four demons, who work with yet unknown angels. We don’t know the exact reasons of the two parties yet, but we’re working on locating the demons right now.”, she told him.

“Demons _and_ angels? Wow. That’s new. What can I do?”, Sam wanted to know.

“I- um- I don't know. Maybe you could look up what kind of spell-work can block summoning rituals and prayers. I haven’t been getting any from them since they were taken…”

“Yeah sure, I’ll call as soon as I know something.”, Sam replied. The disappointment was evident in his voice, he wanted to do more, but Tara couldn’t risk him being taken as well, she still didn’t know what role the angels were playing in this whole mess.

As soon as everything was prepared, they began with the ritual. And… It actually worked. The location was an old abandoned warehouse (of course, what else…) and it was pretty secluded from everything else in the area. The perfect place to hold someone hostage.

Tara smiled, “I can take the demons alone, you stay here in Heaven.”

“I don’t know, this was too easy… kinda smells like a trap to me…”, Lucifer said warily.

Tara looked at the floor, her wings hanging so low, they were touching the ground, “Maybe… But it’s all we’ve got. Even if they’re not there, the demons certainly are and I can buy them time. Keep trying to find out who those angels are, if we can get them to leave Dean and Cas alone for a few minutes, they might manage to free themselves.”

Lucifer nodded, “Okay, fine.”

“Thanks, Luke.”, and then she took off.

 

When she arrived at the warehouse, she couldn’t hear or see anyone there. It was dark inside and the air was stuffy, there was a weird smell to it she couldn’t quite identify. She could feel the presence of the four demons clearly, but there was no one in sight. Something about this just didn’t seem to be sitting right. Lucifer was probably right, this had to be a trap. She was just about to let her angel blade slip from her sleeve, when she heard someone calling, “Hello there. Nice to meet you.”

She whirled around to see a slender figure standing a few feet from her, looking him up and down she noted, “You must be Andras.”

“Correct, sweetie. Meet my friends, I’m sure you already know their names as well.”, he replied and the three other demons stepped out of the shadows, effectively circling her.

“You should know that I could kill all of you without breaking a sweat.”, she pointed out.

“Oh I know, but you won’t.”, Andras said and Vapula behind her lit a lighter and dropped it to the ground. The lighter set something on fire and a circle appeared around Tara. _Fuck_. She should’ve known that weird smell was holy oil…

“We might not be able to kill you… but we can keep you from crashing our party.”, Andras sang sweetly.

Tara glared daggers at him from inside the burning circle, “I will get outta here and when I do, I’m going to _crush_ you.”

Andras let out a short laugh, “Oooooh, I’m sooo scared… You can’t even find me except I let you! And when our new friends show up here, they’re gonna finish you off and that won’t be my problem anymore.”

Tara’s look turned even darker, wings towering dangerously above her, just far enough away from the flames as not to catch fire, and for a moment she contemplated just stepping over that damn line of fire and strangle that fucker, consequences be damned. But she didn’t, because even if she’d survive, the chances she’d win that fight in a damaged condition would be slim. And if she _wouldn’t_ survive, she couldn’t help Cas and Dean anymore. So she stayed in the circle of holy fire, death glare drilled on the demon in front of her, waiting for them to leave. They did, but only after a few minutes of mockery. She really hoped that’d bought Cas and Dean enough time…

 

_4 hours earlier_

 

Castiel came back to consciousness, slowly blinking his eyes open. At first his vision was blurry, but as soon as it cleared he remembered what had happened. Angels had taken Dean and him. _Dean_. Where was he? He looked around for any sign of his beloved hunter, but he was nowhere to be seen. Cas shook his head a little, trying to clear his thoughts, then he took in his surroundings. The room he was in was pretty big, but it didn’t look like a warehouse. Maybe some sort of factory. Whatever it was, it had been abandoned for some time now, that much he could tell. Dust and spider webs were everywhere, some walls were crumbling and one of the few, high windows was broken, but the resulting hole was just the size of a fist. The walls which were still intact, were covered in runes and enochian sigils. He recognized them, which caused him to swallow thickly. Prayers were blocked, he couldn’t call Tara for help. He pulled on his restraints that were fastened to some kind of framework. His hands were in chains secured above his head, minimizing his ability to move. What did those angels want from them? Well, he had some vague idea what they might want from him, but what about Dean? He just hoped to his father that Dean was okay… He tugged on the chains again, trying to figure out a way to free himself. But he was interrupted when a door at the far end of the room was opened and two men and two women in suits entered. They surely were the ones who took them, but unfortunately Cas couldn’t recognize them, since he wasn’t an angel anymore.

“Oh, look who’s awake!”, the taller woman chided.

“Where’s Dean?”, Cas demanded.

“Ah yes. Dean, Dean, Dean. Your priority number one. He’s being taken good care of. And _we_ are gonna take care of _you_.”, she said.

So Dean was alive. _Thank father._

“Who are you?”, Cas asked.

“Riiiiiiight. You’re human now, you can’t see our true forms… Maybe you remember me, I’m Dina.”, she replied.

Now the shorter man with the blonde hair spoke up, “I’m Midael.”, he pointed at the smaller woman who seemingly tried to hide behind Dina and said, “This is Isda. And that’s Raguel.”, he indicated the man with dark skin who was standing behind them.

Cas narrowed his eyes at the bigger man, “I remember your name. You were one of the angels who held Tara captive almost a year ago.”

He gave a nod, “Since that didn’t work out as planned, I had to find a different way to accomplish my goal.”

“And that goal would be?”

“Justice.”

Dina stepped a little closer to Castiel and the table that was standing just a few feet away from him, “You see, Castiel… We brought you here because you have to pay for your sins.”

“Exactly,” Midael chimed in, “You chose humanity over your duties over and over. You killed hundreds of us when you called yourself our new God. You unleashed the Leviathan. You cast the angels out of Heaven. And then you even released the Darkness! And for what?! Everything just to save _one human_!”

“How far can one fall from Heaven…?”, Raguel’s deep voice sounded drenched with disgust.

“Oh, he didn’t just fall from Heaven — repeatedly… He fell in _love_. With Dean — the human you’d do anything for. Aren’t I right, Castiel?”, Dina mocked.

Cas stayed silent. What should he say? She was right after all. He’d bring the world to an end if it meant saving Dean…

“Or should I call you _Cas_? Hm? I heard you like that nickname he gave you.”, Dina went on with so much distaste laced through every word, it almost made Cas grimace.

“You know nothing about me.”, he hissed at her.

“Oh, it speaks. Tell me, Castiel, how far would you go for him?”, she asked, stepping another bit closer.

Cas didn’t answer, but the look on his face seemed to be enough for her.

Dina’s expression turned sour, “That’s what I thought.” Shaking her head she let out a sigh, mumbling, “How did he corrupt you so deeply…?”

Now Cas’ expression became angry, his jaw clenching. How dare she say that? Dean didn’t corrupt him, Dean _loved_ him and Cas loved Dean! She had no right to make assumptions about something she didn’t even understand in the slightest!

“Dean did not corrupt me!”, he spat, “He showed me things you can’t even comprehend. He taught me free will and then he showed me what it feels like to have a real family. A family who cares for me. He showed me love and now he gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine… He gave me his love in return for mine…”

Dina’s face remained blank, “Are you done now?”

Cas didn’t give a reply, he just glared at her.

“Shall we begin the punishment?”, Raguel asked.

Dina just gave a short nod.

 

_Some unknown time later (probably 30 minutes)_

 

Cas didn't know how long they were already torturing him. It felt like hours, but in reality it was probably a lot shorter. Maybe half an hour. It didn’t matter. His whole body ached and he was bleeding, but it wasn’t too bad. They were just getting started. Dina had left a few minutes ago, Raguel was the one doing most of the dirty work anyway. Midael seemed to enjoy watching. Only Isda seemed to be unsettled. She looked guilty, like she didn’t even want to be here. Maybe she’d been forced into this…

“Raguel please… I’ve made mistakes, but I never wanted to harm Heaven…”, Cas tried to explain, voice strained with the pain of the blade cutting through his skin.

“This isn’t just about your past mistakes, Castiel. This is also about you choosing that dirty monkey over your own kin.”, Raguel growled.

“Well, now you’re one of them anyway… I can’t believe you actually _like_ it.”, Midael scoffed.

“Your entire relationship with that stupid monkey is disgusting.”, Raguel grumbled.

Cas glared at him. At least the physical torture had stopped for now.

“I mean, he treated you like a tool when you still had your powers and now? You still stay with him. You’ve basically been his bitch and for all I know you still are.”, Midael ignored Castiel’s death glare and went on, “Did you let him fuck you?”

Cas intensified his glare tenfold (which shouldn’t even be possible) and retorted, “That’s none of your business, you pervert…”

“You did, didn’t you? And I bet you even _liked_ it… I also bet you learned that profanity from him.”, Midael mused further.

Yes, Castiel did learn it from Dean and he was also strangely proud of that.

Suddenly Dina walked back into the room, a strange look on her face.

“Where’s Dean? I want to see him.”, Cas demanded.

“You’re in no position to demand anything.”, she replied, stepping closer, “Besides… Dean is dead.”

“No…”, Cas breathed, “No, you’re lying.”

“I’m sorry, Castiel. He was being tortured by the demons who he’d tortured in Hell and… it was apparently more than he could take.”, she said calmly.

No, she was lying. Cas _knew_ she was lying, because he knew _her_ and because of their profound bond that none of his siblings really understood. If Dean died, he was sure he’d feel something. Some kind of… shift, a loss, a change, just _something_. He knew Dina for millennia and he knew she was bluffing. Dean was alive. But the rest she’d said seemed to be true, so he didn’t know how much longer Dean could survive. Maybe if he played along he could buy himself time…

He let his knees give out, practically dangling off the chains around his wrists now and hung his head.

“He can't be dead, he can’t be…”, he mumbled, letting his voice break just that tad bit to make it seem more real. Being human for so long now, he’d become a surprisingly good actor.

“How are you feeling now, Castiel?”, Dina asked him, genuinely curious, tilting her head a little to the side, “Empty? Hollow? Does your heart hurt?”

Cas didn’t raise his head to look at her, he just nodded, letting out a pathetic little sob for good measure. When he finally took a glance at the group of angels, Dina seemed to be kind of intrigued. Raguel looked pleased with Cas’ state. Midael looked like a mixture of curious and disgusted. And Isda looked even more guilty and sympathetic. She definitely didn’t want this to happen. But why was she here then? Dina had always been her superior, so she’d probably forced her into this…

They left him to his grief for a few minutes. So they hadn’t realized it was fake… Good.

“This is getting boring.”, Midael spoke up, “Can we get back to the fun part?”

Dina let out an exasperated sigh, “Fine.”

Midael’s lips twitched into a barely there smile, and he stood up, walking towards Cas with his blade.

The torture went on for an hour, maybe two, he couldn’t tell. He did his best to flee from the painful reality into his own head, focusing on thoughts of Dean and the warm feeling the hunter caused in him. He thought about the many things their love had already helped them through. The things they’d done for each other.

Actually, it was beyond love for them. It just — _was_. Dean and Cas. Cas and Dean. They didn’t really have a label for it, but the best fitting label they had, was love. And oh, he loved Dean so much, he forgot what hating himself felt like. Cas would follow Dean to the very end and he knew without a doubt that Dean would do exactly the same for him.

He never expected it to be easy. Life had never been easy for any of them. But it was a bit easier, a bit better, when they were together. When they had each other. Like they had each other now. And Cas would fight for what they had, he had to fight for it now, but first he needed an opportunity. So, he closed his eyes and waited, a short memory flashing across his mind…

 

_24 hours earlier_

 

Cas woke up in their motel bed, wrapped up safely in Dean’s arms. When he slowly blinked his eyes open, his hunter was already awake, watching him with a look of wonder and amazement, thinking about how lucky he was for it to have turned out like this.

When their eyes met, a smile made its way onto Cas’ face and he couldn’t help asking, “What was it with watching someone sleep? Didn’t you call it ‘creepy’?”

Dean let out a short chuckle, “Shut up. That’s just revenge…”

“Of course, Dean.”, Cas replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes with nothing but affection.

Dean huffed a laugh, “I’m still not used to you being sarcastic.”, he paused, “It’s strangely hot though…”

“Well, I had a good teacher.”

Now they both snickered, snuggling in closer, Dean wrapping an arm around Cas, who rested his head on his lover’s shoulder. Comfortable silence fell over their motel room. They still had a little bit of time until Sam would come back from his morning run and they would have to get up to continue investigating the werewolf case, so they savored this moment of bliss, enjoying each other’s warmth and just breathing the other in.

Suddenly Dean broke the silence, voice soft like angel down, “How’d you get so human?”

Cas smiled like the goner he was for the man beside him and said, “I fell further from Heaven than even Lucifer did… I fell for you. And then I fell into your arms.”

“Sap.”

“You love me for it.”

“Yeah.”, Dean’s smile was evident in his voice as he spoke, “That I do. I really do.”

Dean pressed a kiss into Cas’ hair, before the fallen angel turned to face him and then they were molding their lips together in a sweet kiss. Both of them had morning breath, but neither of them seemed to care, because it was them and they were together and it was perfect.

 

_24 hours later_

 

“Hold up, Midael.”, Dina ordered, causing Cas to jerk awake from his reverie.

Midael stopped abruptly, stilling in every single of his movements and stared blankly into space for a moment. The other angels did the same. _Angel radio_ , Cas figured.

“What does that mean?”, Isda asked out loud into the room.

“It means, we need to leave now. Everyone who doesn’t show up will be suspected the abductors. If we want to avert Lucifer’s suspicion, we have to go to Heaven immediately. We can return after that.”, Dina gave an answer and an order at once.

Midael stepped away from Castiel after wiping his angel blade on Cas’ shirt. Dina made her way to the door, the others trailing behind her. When Isda stood up from where she’d been sitting on the floor, she stumbled, running into the table. Something fell to the ground. It was a key. Across the room, Isda sent Cas a meaningful look over her shoulder. He knew what to do.

 

_15 minutes earlier_

 

Tara was frowning at the holy fire around her, effectively keeping her in place. She could only hope that her actions had distracted the demons and angels long enough to give Dean and Cas an opportunity to free themselves. The fire was slowly dimming, but it was _too_ slowly for her liking. Surely there must be another way to get out of this… But she had nothing to help her. The warehouse around her was empty. She couldn’t get out of this without any help. If she could just reach out to Lucifer or Micah… but the signal was blocked, no angel radio… Wait. This was a magical barrier, so surely it wouldn’t affect electric devices, right? She dug her phone out of her pocket to see that she was lucky. She had reception. Not enough to make a call to Hell, but enough for a standard call on Earth. Quickly she dialed Sam’s number.

“Sam, I need your help.”

“What happened?”, Sam asked worriedly.

“Nothing major, I’m just… kinda stuck right now. I’m in an abandoned warehouse outside of Atlanta. Call Crowley, tell him to bring a fire extinguisher.”

“What?”

“No time for questions, Sam. Just do it. I’ll meet you as soon as I can.”, and with that she hung up.

 

_20 minutes earlier_

 

By leaving Dean alone, they’d given him a chance he intended to take. The light was still on, so he could take a good look at the runes carved into the handcuffs. He knew those runes and thanks to Cas, he also knew how to get rid of them. Carefully he cited the Enochian spell and one by one the runes disappeared. Getting out of the now completely ordinary handcuffs was a piece of cake. Now he just had to find Cas…

 

_Meanwhile_

 

Cas wasn’t wearing shoes. They’d probably pulled them off to cut off some toes or something. Luckily they hadn’t gotten to that yet, but now it turned out to be a good thing… He had to stretch, but was able to reach the key on the floor with his foot, grabbing it with his toes. Now he just had to get it into his hand and he’d be as good as free… He grabbed the chain around his wrists with both hands and lifted himself up, bringing his feet up to his hands. He let the chain with one hand go and grabbed the key from his foot, then he let his feet drop to the ground again. Thank Heaven he was so flexible…

With the key in hand, it was just a matter of seconds until he’d unlocked the chain holding him and was free. He looked around the big room. There were two doors, the small one that the angels were using and a huge, heavy, metal double door that was locked with a thick, rusty chain. It was probably a way out, but he wouldn’t be able to open it. Even if the key would fit into the big padlock (which was highly unlikely), that thing was so rusty that it would never open. So he made his way to the smaller door, every step causing him pain, but he kept moving. He had to find Dean…

 

_Simultaneously_

 

Dean ran through the hallways of the building as fast as he could with his injuries. The pain was bearable, but not knowing where Cas was and if he was okay was a lot worse. Climbing up the stairs from the basement of the old factory — it _was_ a factory, that much he knew now — he had to suppress a groan of pain. But when he reached the end of the staircase, it was worth it, because there at the other end of the hallway was Cas. Alive and apparently also free.

When Cas saw Dean climbing up the stairs, he felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. Dean was okay. He was bleeding, but he was _okay_. They could do it, they could get out of this. Together.

Their eyes locked and suddenly nothing else mattered anymore. In a few quick strides they reached each other, meeting in the middle of the hallway. As soon as they were in touching distance, they fell into a tight embrace. Both of them winced and grunted in pain, but they refused to let go, burying their faces in the other’s neck and shoulder.

“Cas, I’m so glad I found you…”, Dean mumbled into his love’s skin.

Cas only managed a broken “Dean…”, but this word alone said everything he wanted to tell.

“We need to get out of here, before the demons come back.”, Dean said, still not pulling away completely.

Cas nodded, “The angels too.”

“Wait. Angels?!”

“Yes. They are working together with some demons apparently.”

“Well, then I have a feelin’ that we won’t get too far…”, Dean grumbled.

“I know, but we don’t have to. This building is warded with sigils that block prayers. I know the names of the angels who are responsible for this. If we manage to get out, we can send Tara all the information she needs to know. When she knows the angel’s names, she can track them down from Heaven, they’re not warded against that.”, Cas explained.

“Okay. Then let’s go.”

They hurriedly made their way through the building, searching for an exit. Suddenly there was the sound of an opening and closing door. They shared one look and both instantly knew what they had to do. Cas hid behind a corner, while Dean caught the demon’s attention. While they were running after Dean, Cas quickly slipped past them and rushed to the door through which they’d entered. He yanked it open and ran as fast as he could in his injured state, sending an urgent prayer to Tara right before a hand appeared on his shoulder, yanking him back hard enough for him to land on the ground.

“Did you really think you could flee from your rightful punishment, Castiel?”, Raguel’s voice rang in Cas’ ears. Cas swallowed hard. Hopefully Tara had heard him… Hopefully she’d be here soon… Raguel put two fingers to his forehead. Everything went black.

 

_10 minutes earlier_

 

Sam was sitting in the bunker’s library, a shit ton of books scattered all around him. He didn’t even know how many they really were. Usually he didn’t complain about research, but this time was different. _He should be looking for his brother, dammit!_ He was angry at Tara for making him sit at the sidelines. But on the other hand, he could understand. She didn’t want him to get into danger too. She didn’t want the captors to get another hostage. If there was one thing he knew, then it was that she’d changed a lot since he’d first met her. When she’d showed up at their doorstep, she’d been a normal girl. A fan. Then she’d become a hunter. Then an angel. Soon she’d become a warrior and then even a leader. Now she was all of those. Still, it didn’t make him feel any less frustrated about the situation…

It wasn’t even two minutes after Tara’s strange call that she showed up at the bunker with Crowley in tow.

“Thanks Sam.”, she called, “Anything new?”

“Yeah, actually. I think I know the sigil that prevents you from hearing their prayers. I also found the sigil that blocks summoning rituals and locating spells. The problem is, there’s no way to override them from afar.”, Sam told her.

“What about loop holes?”, Crowley asked.

“Well, nothing says that you couldn’t locate the angels in the traditional Heaven way, but…”

“…I’d have to know who they are for that.”, Tara finished his sentence.

“Yeah.”

Her expression turned sour, “So we’ve got nothing…”

She balled her hands into fists and slammed them onto the table with a shout, then she wiped all the books off of it in one swift motion, making them fall onto the floor. Sam and Crowley were watching her sudden outburst with utter shock. The room was covered in silence, only Tara’s harsh breathing was to be heard as she was gripping the edge of the table tightly, trying to compose herself. All of a sudden, she froze. A prayer. A prayer was coming in. Cas was praying to her. _Cas was praying to her._ She closed her eyes, listening intently.

_Dean and I are alive. The responsible angels are Dina, Midael, Isda and Raguel. Isda helped me to free myself. They are not warded against being located through Heaven. Please hurry, we-_

It cut off. They must’ve captivated him again. But they were _alive_. And they had apparently managed to free themselves however short lived it had been. Her face lit up with joy and hope, almost grinning at Sam and Crowley when she said, “Cas just prayed.”

“What? How?”, Sam asked with confusion and amazement.

“He managed to flee for a few seconds, just enough time to tell me who their captors are.”, her smile grew bigger, “Now I can find them.”

Sam smiled back, “You can bring them home.”

“Yeah. I’ll bring them home.”, she reiterated, turning serious again. Sam knew that look. It was the look of a warrior. Now he _definitely_ didn’t want to be one of those angels or demons…

 

_At the same time_

 

“Maybe it’s time to try something new…”, Dina mused.

“They really do seem to care for each other…”, Vapula provided.

“We should use that against them.”, Midael suggested.

Dina sighed, “I wanted to keep that for the very end, but I think you’re right. We will use their greatest weakness to our advantage… The sooner we get done with this, the sooner we can disappear from the radar.”

When Dean and Cas came back to consciousness, Dean was chained to the framework on the wall, while Cas was fastened to a chair facing him.

“Dean,” Cas said with a hint of relief for not being separated again.

“Cas,” was Dean’s answer, telling him he was suspicious about this. They never needed many words in such a situation for the other to understand. Dean idly wondered in the back of his mind if that had something to do with their bond.

“Ah yes, there we are again. _Dean Cas Dean Cas_.”, Andras mocked, “Yuck!”

They both simultaneously turned their heads to glare at him.

Midael raised an eyebrow at the synchrony, “Wow, that was weird. And a little creepy…”

That earned him a slap to the back of his head from Dina.

“Enough with this nonsense. Let us begin.”, she ordered. Andras grinned.

Dina let her angel blade slip out of her sleeve and sauntered up to Castiel. Dean’s eyes widened the second he realized what she was going to do.

“No! No, Cas!”, he screamed, yanking desperately at the restraints, trying to free himself, but to no avail. He had to watch while she cut through the already damaged skin of Cas’ abdomen. But this cut was deeper than the rest, bleeding more. Cas let out a short, but sharp cry of pain.

When she was done with the long, deep cut, she stood up straight again and looked at Andras. He nodded and strolled towards Dean, knife in hand and evil grin in place.

“Does he scream like this when you fuck him too?”, he whispered into Dean’s ear, voice silky. Dean made a sound that was close to a growl.

Andras chuckled and hummed to himself, “I wonder if you let him fuck you at some point…”, then he mused, “Too bad I don’t have enough time to do all the things I wanted to do…”

Dean pressed his eyes closed. That had been one hella awkward conversation he’d had with Tara. He remembered it all too vividly, but chose to rather not think about it now.

 

_60 hours earlier_

 

“Hey, Tara. Do you, um… have a minute? I need someone to talk to right now.”, Dean asked, standing in front of Tara who was sitting in the library with her laptop. He felt terribly awkward, constantly fidgeting on the spot and rubbing his neck.

“Of course, what is it?”, she replied, snapping the device shut.

“Well… I kind of have an issue… with Cas…”, he started, slowly sitting down opposite to her.

“Oh no, please don’t tell me you messed up or plan to break up with him. You’re the greatest couple I’ve ever seen!”, she burst out immediately.

“What, no, we’re not gonna break up. Wait, do you actually think that?”, Dean asked with confusion.

“I do.”, she replied firmly.

“Wow, that’s… weird. But good to know…”

“Now what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Right. Yeah. Well… um… you- you know Cas and I have… y’know.”

“Yes.”

“Well, up until now he’s been the one to…”, he started fidgeting again, “the one who ‘received’, okay?”, he ended up saying, complete with air quotes.

“Um… yeah, okay.”, she wasn’t sure where this was going, but it could be interesting.

“Now… I kinda want to… to try something new. Y’know, like, role reversal… taking turns… you know what I mean.”, he ran a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself down.

“You’re talking about switching.”, she noted.

“Yeah… exactly.”

“That's a great thing for both of you, I suppose, but what’s the problem now?”

“Um… well…” He honestly didn’t know what to say to that.

“Why do you want to talk about this with me of all people anyway?”

“Well, I don’t wanna talk to Cas about it, because he’d just tell me that I don’t have to do this, like it’s something I’m forcing myself into… and I sure as Hell can’t talk to my brother about taking it up the ass.”, he explained.

“Fair point. Go on.”

“So… I’ve known for a while that I’m bi, okay? And I… experimented a little, but… I’ve never done _that_ …”

“Are you seriously telling me, you can face ten demons at once without breaking a sweat, but you’re scared of _this_? You _do_ know you’re not making a lot of sense here, right?”, she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know! But that doesn’t help me in the slightest…”

“Okay, so you are sure you want that with Cas?”, she inquired.

“I'm sure.”

“But you’re a little scared anyway.”

“Yep…”

“Because you've never done it before…”, she summarized.

“Touché.”

“Wait, what about that one time,” she tapped a finger against her lower lip, “I read it in the books… when you came back after a night out, winced when sitting down and said something like ‘mistakes were made’?”

Dean squeezed his eyes shut at the reminder of that night, “Well, um… I’ve been… fingered… That’s what I meant when I said ‘experimented’.”

“Oh…? Did you enjoy it?”

“Um… kind of… but somehow it felt… I dunno… wrong…”, he answered.

“Because you didn’t do it with the one you love?”

“Maybe… probably… yeah.” _And because it was a bit too rough._

“So you kind of liked being fingered, maybe did that to yourself a couple times…?”

A light blush crept up his neck and cheeks, which was enough of an answer for Tara.

“Now, do you think the next step would be _that_ much different?”

“Um… no, probably not, but…”

“But what? Does Cas enjoy bottoming?”, she asked further.

He let out a quiet chuckle, “He does.”

“Do you think you'll enjoy it too?”

He shrugged, “Maybe, I guess. That’s why I wanna try it.”

“Then, what’s the issue? Do you think it’ll make you less of a man?”, she took a guess into the blue.

At that Dean looked down at the floor.

Tara sighed, “Oh Dean… you know what my mom likes to say?”

He stared at her in confusion until she went on, “Real men take foam baths. Now, be a man, take your angel and get into that goddamn foamy bathtub. Forget whatever your father taught you about that kind of stuff. If you’re happy, you made the right decision.”

Now Dean let out a laugh, “Yeah, okay. You’re probably right. Thanks Tara.”

“No problem. It’ll be great, you’ll see.”, she told him, then added, “You can always come and talk to me again, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

 

_60 hours later_

 

He’d even gotten around to talking to Cas about it, but then the case had intervened and they had a rule regarding penetration during cases. They just didn’t do it. It was a good rule, really. Soreness could be a handicap during combat that they just didn’t need — not life threatening, just… inconvenient. Dean pushed those random thoughts aside, this wasn’t the time.

Cas recovered a little from the pain, just in time to see the demon cutting along Dean’s side, blood drizzling out of the fresh wound.

“Dean!”, he cried out, but the angels and demons around them only chuckled at him. They thought their love was a weakness, he knew they did. But they were wrong. It was their greatest strength.

“Dean, look at me. We can get through this. Together. You’re not alone. I’ll never leave you. Just breathe.”, he said, voice soothing. And Dean seemed to relax just a tad bit hardly anyone would notice, but Cas did. Cas always did.

When it was Cas’ turn again, he gripped the chair tight, knuckles turning white, but he kept his eyes open, fixed on Dean’s. And just through something as simple as eye contact, by being able to look into his beautiful green eyes, Dean gave Cas all the comfort and strength he needed.

The pain of having to watch, of seeing his angel like this, was worse than the pain of a knife slicing through his flesh, but they just had to hold out a little bit longer. Cas had managed to contact Tara, Dean knew. They just had to wait for her to come… But God, she was taking her time…

 

Suddenly there was the crashing of thunder to be heard from outside. Everyone looked up. Dean and Cas shared a grateful and relieved look.

“What?!”, Dina demanded from Castiel, “Why are you smiling!?”

All of a sudden Dean started laughing, “Because he knows something that you don’t.”

Now Dina had an expression of anger and exasperation, “And that would be?”

“I never tried to flee.”, Cas stated calmly.

“What?”, Midael asked in confusion.

“I didn’t try to flee. I just tried to get out of this building to send a prayer to Tara.”, Cas elaborated.

Dina’s eyes widened, “You did what?”

“What does that mean?”, Belial asked.

“It means she’s comin’.”, Dean answered with a smirk, “So in short, _you’re screwed_.”

Just in that moment, the heavy iron double door burst open with enough force to send the thick, rusty chain links flying across the room. Everyone in the room froze, staring at the now open entrance. There was a moment of complete and utter silence as Tara wandered slowly into the room, her eyes blazing with fury, the colors of her wings dancing like lightning in a thunderstorm. She spread them wide, daring, showing them in their full glory. The demons looked scared. The angels did too, although they put a lot of effort into hiding it. Tara took a quick glance at Dean and Cas to check their injuries, then she went back to staring down the angels. Her face was drawn into a sneer, eyes glowing now as she cast the shadows of her wings to the wall behind her in a display of pure, raw power.

“I gave you five rules to follow. _Five. Rules._ And what do you do? You go ahead… AND BREAK THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE OF THEM ALL!!!!”, she thundered, causing every single lamp in the building to burst into a cloud of sparks.

Midael’s facade slipped and Dean could see the sheer horror on his face.

“What did I tell you?! _No one. Harms. My family._ _NO ONE!!_ ”, she went on, fuming. She was absolutely furious, that much was clear. When she was furious she was a force of nature. Relentless, unforgiving, unstoppable. You didn’t want that fury directed at yourself. No one did.

One of the demons — Haures — tried to charge. Whether it was out of bravery, desperation, foolishness or something else didn’t matter. Tara had him disarmed with a flick of her wrist, smiting him without even blinking.

“Now tell me…”, she hissed, “Who’s next?”

No one dared to move, so she just shrugged and moved her hands upwards, pulling Vapula and Belial telekinetically towards her, smiting them both simultaneously and letting their burnt out meat-suits drop to the floor.

“Now…”, she began, cracking her neck, “Tell me one thing. Why? I mean, I know the demon’s reason, but you?” She gave the angels a look of pure disappointment.

Dina straightened up, shaking off the shock and stepping a few feet in front of Tara, “Castiel’s sins have to be punished. If no one else does it, we have to.”

“And what sins, in your opinion, has Castiel committed?”, Tara asked challengingly.

Dina’s expression turned serious, tinted with a little bit of anger, “He chose a human over Heaven, over and over again. He slaughtered hundreds of angels for one human. He freed the Leviathan, cast us all out of Heaven, let Lucifer out of the cage, unleashed the Darkness, and for what? To save one human?! That is unacceptable! And what they’re doing now…”, she trailed off with a full body shiver.

Tara’s eyes narrowed as she tilted her head, “You’re jealous.”

“What?”

“You’re jealous of Dean, because Castiel chose him over you. Dean and Sam are more of a family to Cas than Heaven ever was and you _can’t stand it_.”, Tara said, “That’s what this is about. You’re not trying to restore some ‘cosmic balance’ or some shit, you simply don’t like that Cas is now happier than he was in Heaven!”

Dina made a step backwards, shaking her head.

The sneer was back on Tara’s face as she shouted, “You have no right! _This_ is exactly the reason why he doesn’t consider you family! This… self-rightfulness. Family cares for each other, no matter what. You’re no family. The other angels understand it now — even Isda does — but you just… _refuse_ to get it. I. Am. _Done_. With you. I give you one last chance to either defend yourself or leave. If you don’t or if you try to attack, I will kill you. _Did I make myself clear?!_ ”

Silence draped itself over the room like a blanket, until Dina spoke again, “Two men can’t…”, but Tara didn’t even let her finish, “Are you fucking serious? _That’s_ your argument now? I’m disappointed. I thought you were smarter… You have the same opinion, don’t you, Raguel? I can see it in your face. And Midael? I think you don’t mind that kind of thing in general, but you don’t like that Castiel is in a relationship with a man while in a male vessel. Let me tell you one thing… Saying that it’s unnatural or that God hates it is bullshit and you know it. Your father never had an opinion in that matter. In fact, he even engaged in some experiments himself. You should stop trying to find reasons why what Castiel has is wrong and instead start being happy for your brother. That’s what family is supposed to do, you know?”, she shook her head, “I really thought better of you…”

Tara stretched her wings a little and got into a fighting stance.

“Who do you think you are to have the right to impose the death penalty for this?! You’re not in the position to judge!”, Raguel thundered.

Tara fixed him with a stare that could give every monster a run for their money, “That’s right, I don’t. But this isn’t about justice. This is something personal.”

And with that sentence, everyone in the room knew how this was going to end. Bloody.

Dina, Midael and Raguel let their blades slip out of their sleeves and got ready. Andras, who had been watching the whole ordeal from the sidelines, prepared for a fight as well. Isda tried her best to hide in a far corner of the room.

Tara let two angel blades glide smoothly into her hands, one out of each sleeve. She had become known as the only angel to fight with two blades, moving them like they were one weapon.

There was a moment of dead silence where nobody moved and everyone was just watching their opponent. Then, everything happened really fast.

Raguel was the first to charge, but Tara simply zapped behind his back and stabbed him from there. Andras tried to use that moment to surprise her, but she simply turned her second blade backwards and let him run into it. The empty vessels dropped to the floor and she twirled her bloody blades between her fingers. Two dead, two to go.

This time the remaining two angels charged simultaneously, making it harder for Tara to find a good opportunity for an attack of her own. But while the angels were preoccupied, Sam managed to sneak into the room unseen. He’d been waiting for that opportunity in front of the building’s entrance. Tara had taken him with her as soon as she’d found out where the angels were hiding. As soon as he reached Dean, he started fumbling with the padlock that was holding together the chain around Dean’s wrists, “Hey, I’m getting you outta here.”

“It’s good to see ya, Sam.”, Dean mumbled, sounding tired. Sam wondered how much blood he’d already lost. He hoped it wasn’t too much… Cas didn’t look better though.

There was a shout and they turned their heads towards the fighting angels. Sam instantly hid behind his brother and the framework he was chained to in order to not be seen. Tara had somehow been brought to the ground and was now held down by Dina and Midael.

“I’ve got her. Go finish it.”, Dina told Midael and he nodded. Tara struggled heavily under Dina’s grip, but couldn’t seem to free herself although her blades were still clasped tightly in her hands.

Midael moved over into the direction of Castiel, blade in hand and Dean’s blood froze. Tara’s eyes widened as she watched him place the peak of the silvery blade on Cas’ abdomen. She had to free herself. Now.

On a whim she slipped one of her wings between Dina and herself and then used it to push her away and to the ground. Dina was startled by that turn of events for a moment and before she could react, Tara had turned the tables and was straddling her. She was just about to deliver the final blow, as she heard Dean cry out behind her, “CAAAS! NO!”

Startled, she turned her head to see what was happening and saw Midael thrusting his blade into Cas’ abdomen. Without even thinking about Dina, who was still trapped under her, she stood up, turned around and threw one of her blades, hitting Midael directly in the spine. The blood wetted blade slipped from his hand and he crumpled to the floor. Sam watched in astonishment as she had just killed the second angel within a few minutes right after killing four demons all on her own.

It was too late though. Cas had a deep stab wound right in his upper abdomen and he was bleeding heavily. Dean was screaming Cas’ name and thrashing in an effort to get out of the chains holding him back. Tara realized she’d made a mistake by turning her back towards Dina when she suddenly found herself being thrown across the room and into a wall.

Sam didn’t waste any more time and freed Dean, who instantly rushed to Cas’ side, desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood with the trench coat that had been lying on the table. Tara got back to her feet, glaring at Dina. She had only one blade now, just like Dina. They both were in their fighting stances, circling each other like two predators.

“Cas. Cas come on. Stay with me, Cas. Don’t you dare leave me now. You can't die on me, you hear me?”, Dean pleaded with tears in his eyes, begging Cas to stay awake.

“You should know one thing about me…”, Tara growled, twirling the blade around in her hand, “I like to fight dirty.”

With a flick of her wrist, she sent the table flying right into Dina’s face, making her stumble backwards until her back hit the wall. With one flap of wings, she was standing right in front of her. Wings spread wide she plunged her blade through Dina’s chest in a swift motion. Dina let out a bloodcurdling scream as light burst through her eyes and mouth, only to die down again mere moments later.

When he saw Cas’ eyelids drop, Dean’s whole world came crashing down on him like a tsunami. “Cas!”, he cried out with a pathetic sob when the fallen angel lost consciousness.

“Tara!!”, Sam called out to her.

She didn’t even bother to pull the blade out of Dina’s empty vessel when she heard the other’s calls. In quick strides she made her way to where Cas was sitting in the chair, Sam just finished with undoing his restraints and Dean cowering next to him, cradling his face. She didn’t move Dean to the side, just reached past him to feel Cas’ pulse, “He’s alive.”

“Oh, thank Chuck.”, Sam breathed out in relief.

Dean didn’t say anything, he hadn’t even really registered what the others had said. His mind was reeling. He shouldn't have allowed himself these feelings. He shouldn't have gotten Cas endangered like that. If they weren't together this would've never happened. Their relationship was dangerous for them both, a weakness that could be used against them. But despite his mind telling him all this, when Tara placed two fingers on Cas’ forehead, healing all his wounds, and Cas blinked his eyes open, focusing on him and mumbling a weak “Dean…”, he just couldn't help pressing their lips together. And the way Cas was kissing him back, one hand coming up to run through his hair, told Dean that he was overthinking, that what they had was _right_. It didn't matter anyway, because every creature already knew how much they meant to each other. It wasn't like that hadn't been used against them before…

“Cas…”, Dean breathed into his mouth, “I thought I’d loose you…”

“It’s okay, Dean. I’m here.”, Cas whispered back, cradling his face.

And for a short moment, right before he’d come back to consciousness, Cas could’ve sworn he’d felt something like a prayer from Dean.

Tara healed Dean’s wounds as well and turned away from them, giving them a bit privacy as they kept sharing sweet kisses. Sam did the same, it had become a habit by now. When Isda finally crawled out of her hiding place, Tara spread her wings a little, shielding Cas and Dean from her curious gaze.

“I’m sorry for what you've been forced into and I am very grateful that you decided to help Castiel even though you were scared.”, Tara told her, voice soft, “You made your very first own decision, Isda. I’m proud of you. It was the right decision. Now, please go back to Heaven and wait in my office, I will meet you there shortly.”

Isda nodded, even puffing her disheveled feathers under Tara’s praise a little and made her way quickly out of the abandoned factory.

Tara turned to Sam, “I’m sorry for leaving you out of things in the beginning… But I just couldn’t-”

He cut her off, “Risk them getting another hostage? Yeah, I get it… I wasn’t happy about it, but I get it…”

“You’re part of my family, you all three. Protecting my family is my highest priority. That will never change… but… making you stand at the sidelines was wrong… you can take care of yourself. Well, most of the time… But I think I couldn’t’ve done this without you, Sam. Thank you.”, she told him.

Sam smiled, “I thank _you_ for finding them and getting them safe.”

When they turned around, Dean and Cas had stopped kissing and were now pressing their foreheads together.

“What now?”, Tara asked.

There was a moment of silence as everyone thought about what to do next, then Cas spoke up, “Maybe we could get something to eat?”

Dean grinned and kissed him on the cheek, “You’re the man for me! I’m fucking starving!”

Sam and Tara shared a look, then she shrugged, “Well, you’ve been here for almost eight hours, it makes sense you’d be hungry.”

“Especially after eight hours of torture…”, Sam added with a grimace.

“The car isn’t here since we came by angel airlines, so we can’t just stop somewhere on the way, but I can take you wherever you want.”, she offered.

Dean smiled at Cas, “Burgers?”

And that alone made the ex-angel’s face light up in a way that always let Dean’s heartbeat go totally crazy.

“Alright, burgers it is. I know the best burger place in the _world_. Come here.”, she said, gesturing them to come closer.

As the three of them stepped right in front of her, Cas slid his hand into Dean’s and laced their fingers together as easy as breathing.

Tara glanced at their joined hands for a split second, trying to refrain from grinning and mumbled something like, “I should be able to transport you all three that way…”

Then she put two fingers to Sam’s and Dean’s forehead, the latter grabbing Cas’ hand even tighter, and off they took. They got the burgers for takeaway, since they preferred eating at home after such a day. When they finally arrived back in the bunker, Dean and Cas were still holding hands. It was always like this. Whenever one of them got hurt or endangered, they’d be even more inseparable than they usually were and now they’d _both_ been hurt and in danger…

After they’d all eaten their burgers, exchanging questions and answers about the captors, what happened while they’d been held hostage and how the rescue had run down, Dean suggested they all watch a movie to calm down again. When everyone got up to move to the ‘living room’ Tara just stood there, looking a little sad.

“You gotta leave, right?”, Sam asked.

She nodded, looking at the ground, “I have to talk to Isda about the latest events. But then I’ll come back and stay for a little while.”

Sam gave her a smile, “Sounds good.”

“Yeah, you better come back soon, ‘cause we’ve got Thor: Ragnarok.”, Dean said, waving the plastic case in the air.

Tara smiled at them, “I’ll do my best.” Then she was gone.

They’d just started the second movie, the Marvel sign showing on screen, when a flutter of wings announced Tara’s arrival. She’d appeared in the second armchair, took a brief glance at the screen and then turned to look at the other people in the room. Sam was sitting in the armchair on the other side of the couch, where Dean and Cas were lying, snuggled up close and effectively spooning.

“You know,” she started, “We should go to comic con next year.”

Now everyone turned to look at her, smiles growing instantly on their faces.

“Why?”, Sam asked curiously.

She shrugged, “I wanted to go forever, even made a cosplay, but never got around to wearing it, since the whole vision and Darkness ordeal started then.”

It was silent for a moment. “Come on guys, it’d be perfect! Sam, you’d be an awesome Thor! And here on the couch we see Captain America and Iron Man!”

Sam chuckled, “I did have the real Mjölnir in my hand once…”

“Sounds fun!”, Dean said.

“I would probably even understand some of the references by now…”, Cas mused.

Tara grinned, “Cool! Maybe I can get Crowley to come too, he could be Agent Coulson.”

“And you?”, Dean asked then.

Her smile turned mischievous, “I’d be Loki.”

Everyone just stared at her for a moment, before they all burst out laughing. The movie started and they watched mostly in comfortable silence, only interrupted by the occasional chuckle and Tara bragging about how awesome Loki was.

Sometimes Sam wondered how things might’ve turned out without her. Surely different, but probably not better. Dean and Cas would most likely still not be together.

As the end credits had rolled down and even the second after-credit-scene was over (Marvel, dude…), Dean stretched where he was lying behind Cas and said, “I’m gonna take a shower and then head to our room, you comin’?”

“I’ll wait for you,” Cas answered. He’d already taken a shower after dinner and had wondered why Dean hadn’t wanted to join him.

Dean gave him a short peck on the cheek, stood up and wandered out of the room, stretching again. Cas instantly missed the warmth of him, but didn’t stand up immediately.

Tara, who was lounging on her seat by now, watched them with a soft smile, then asked, “Are you okay? I mean, after what happened…”

“Yes, we are fine. We’ve been through worse. A _lot_ worse actually.”, Cas replied.

“Okay… Yeah, okay.”, she mumbled.

A few minutes passed as Cas asked her about the state of Heaven and how things were working out, then he stood up as well, walking into the hallway towards his and Dean’s room. Tara stood up too, looking around the room.

“Are you leaving again?”, Sam asked with a hint of disappointment.

“No,” she replied, “I’m staying.”

That made Sam smile, “Great, I’ve found some really old books in a storage room and I think you’d like them!”

Tara’s face lit up, “What are you waiting for then? Show me!”

 

As Cas strolled down the hallway towards the room he shared with Dean for many months now — he still felt slightly giddy thinking about that — he saw the hunter coming out of the bathroom and walking towards him, shirtless. Cas’ lips quirked up involuntarily into a small smile as he deliberately let his gaze wander over his partner’s exposed skin. Upon noticing this, Dean quickened his pace slightly, gave Cas a wink and asked, “Like what you see?”

The corner of Cas’ mouth twitched and he hummed his approval, “…Yes.”

Dean smirked as he stepped closer, now standing directly in front of his lover. Cas automatically leaned closer, breathing in his fresh scent and letting his eyes flutter shut as Dean flooded his senses.

Dean leaned in and let his lips hover mere inches from Cas’, his hot breath ghosting over the sensitive skin for an agonizingly long moment until he finally closed the small distance between them. Cas’ hand sneaked up to cup Dean’s jaw, holding him in place as their kiss deepened, both of them melting into the other. Dean sighed into their kiss and let out a groan as their tongues met. It didn’t take long ‘til the atmosphere became heated, hands wandering and teasing, lips and tongues moving against one another frantically, like they were dancing a tango. Someone moaned, but it quickly got lost between them.

When they had to come up for air, Dean found himself pressed against the wall. He didn’t know how it happened, but to be honest, he didn’t really care, because Cas was pressed up against him and the former angel looked at him like he wanted to _devour_ him.

Cas kissed along his jawline, lips moving down his throat, stopping occasionally to suck a light mark into the skin and Dean couldn’t help exposing even more of his neck, fingers weaving into Cas’ hair, his other hand snaking around his lover’s waist to keep him close. When Cas started to nibble on his earlobe, Dean groaned, arching into his angel and their groins met, causing them both to moan as a spark of pleasure coursed through them.

Their gazes met and staring into those hooded eyes, Cas’ pupils so dilated that there was hardly any blue left, Dean found himself more than ready to take it to the next step.

He pulled Cas even closer, hooking one leg around his waist and breathed into his ear, “Take me.”

Cas froze and pulled back just enough to see Dean’s face fully, impossibly dark eyes searching, and asked tentatively, “Are you sure?”

Dean nodded, a look of pure adoration on his face as he answered, “I am. I want this. With you. Only with you…”

Cas’ breath caught in his throat and he lunged forward, pressing their lips together again.

They didn’t hear the footsteps approaching as they were tangled up in one another, Dean’s hand having found its way up Cas’ shirt, their tongues intertwined, but they probably wouldn’t have cared if someone was approaching anyway as absorbed as they were in their passionate kissing.

 

Sam had wanted to get another book from the storage room, but then his eyes had caught his brother and Cas, leaning against the wall, practically tangled up in one another as though there was a shortage of air. _Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope…_ He turned on his heels and quickly headed back to the living room, where he spotted Tara, sitting on the couch with an open book lying on her lap and the hint of a smile on her face. Sam walked over, still trying to get rid of the picture in his head, “I- just-”

She looked up at him, blank faced, and he took a deep breath and let the words out in a rush, “Dean and Cas are making out in the hallway. But not like the normal making out, I’ve walked in on that regularly for the last months… But now, they’re making out like-”

“I know.”, she replied almost nonchalantly and returned her attention to the book.

“You know? But- How??”

“I am an angel, Sam. I know things.”, she stated matter-of-factly, without looking up from her book. Sam just stared at her, dumbfounded.

After some moments in awkward silence, Tara slammed the book shut and pulled out her phone, seemingly writing a text message. She received a reply only a few seconds later and stood up, walking towards the front door.

While pulling on her coat, she turned to Sam who’d followed her bemusedly and said, “Wanna go out for drinks? Crowley pays.”

Sam looked at her, completely out of words, but then he collected himself and asked, “Why should I go out with you and Crowley?”

“Because, I’m afraid it might get a little noisy in here. Besides, I already texted him and he invites you."

Sam thought for a moment about what Tara just said, then the picture of his brother and the fallen angel showed up in his mind again and he realized what she probably meant with noisy. He immediately pushed those thoughts out of his mind, grabbed his jacket and headed quickly past her, out of the bunker. She laughed to herself, thinking ‘ _Have fun you boys_ ,’ snapped her fingers and followed Sam, closing the door behind them.

 

Dean kissed down his lover’s neck, sucking on Cas’ pulse point because he knew his angel liked that, and as always, it drew a soft groan from him.

In response, Cas’ hand made its way into Dean’s underwear, grabbing a handful of his ass, then he let his hand slip into Dean’s crack and Dean _shuddered_ , unconsciously even pushing into the touch. Cas smiled at him knowingly.

“You’ve done that to yourself before, haven’t you?”, he purred into Dean’s ear.

Dean swallowed, face red with embarrassment and arousal, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, I used to do it too… Before you started doing it for me.”, Cas’ husky voice send shivers through Dean’s body and he found himself unable to answer. The former angel just went on, “Did you pretend it to be me?”, he asked, hot breath ghosting over Dean’s ear, “Tell me, Dean. Did you imagine _I_ was the one opening you up?”

Cas’ hand was still in his underwear, finger now gently massaging his hole and Dean let out a shuddery breath, responding with a weak and breathy, “Yeah.”

There was a pause, then he added, “I even- I even cleaned myself… for- for you. Y’know… what I mean…”

Cas tilted his head and hummed, “So that’s why you took so long in the shower… And also why you didn’t want me to join you…”

Cas withdrew his hand and Dean had to bite back a noise of protest.

“Then let’s not waste any more time to give you what you want.”, Cas said hoarsely and Dean couldn't help but admire how wonderfully debauched his angel looked, hair standing on end, lips red and swollen, pupils blown wider than it should even be possible. That view took Dean’s breath away every single time.

Over the past months Cas had become a master at seduction, at least with Dean, but what he was doing to the hunter now, with that look on his face and the prospect of what was to come, that was something else entirely. Dean followed Cas on wobbly legs into their bedroom, door clicking shut behind them.

Finally in the privacy of their room, Dean found himself pressed against the closed door, Cas kissing him _hard_ and the hunter promptly decided that his lover was wearing too many clothes. He pushed Cas back just enough to reach the buttons of his shirt and started undoing them. Cas quickly got the message and got rid of his unbuttoned shirt, immediately starting to shed the rest of his clothes, while Dean fumbled with his own pants, hands shaking a little. When they were finally both in only their underwear, Dean captured Cas’ lips with his own again in a heated kiss. Somehow they ended up on the bed, Cas lying on top of Dean, who automatically spread his legs a little to accommodate him.

The fallen angel started kissing down his throat, then his chest, stopping to pay some attention to Dean’s nipples and then moved on over his belly until he reached the hem of his boxer briefs. He looked up at Dean from under his lashes and freed him from his underwear, exposing him completely. Totally naked, knees bent and hips propped up on a pillow while Cas was sitting between his legs, the nerves made themselves known again.

Dean swallowed, took a deep breath and said, “Go easy on me, yeah? This is my first- I’ve never done this before, okay?”

Cas’ eyes softened as he whispered back his reply, “Always, Dean.”

Then he crawled over to the nightstand, rummaged for the lube and a condom and settled between Dean’s legs again. For their first time this way, it would be more comfortable for Dean to do this _with_ a condom. They could always refrain from using one in the future, they were both clean after all, with Tara healing them almost regularly… He coated his fingers in a generous amount of lube and took care to warm it a bit before he started massaging Dean’s hole again with one finger. That wasn’t really a new sensation, so Dean relaxed fairly quickly, although it was pretty exciting to have _Cas_ do it to him. Slowly and very carful to not hurt his lover, Cas pushed one finger in. Dean didn’t even tense noticeably, he took the first digit easily, clearly because he had done it to himself a couple times. That thought still sent a thrill through Castiel.

Cas went on prepping Dean just as gentle as Dean always did when their roles were reversed and the hunter soon let go of his nervousness and started to thoroughly enjoy it as Cas would occasionally lick up his length and tease with his tongue. By the time Cas was moving three fingers inside him, he was moaning and digging his fingers into the sheets. It’d been too long since he’d last felt like this and the fact that _Cas_ was doing this to him, making him feel so good, made everything a thousand times better. He didn’t need to _pretend_ it to be Cas’ fingers this time, because this was _real_ , this was _actually happening_ and for a moment Dean thought it couldn't get any better. Then Cas crooked his fingers and Dean let out a loud moan, arching off the bed, toes curling into the sheets. ‘ _There it is_ ,’ Cas thought with a small smirk.

“Ah, right there!”, Dean said, looking completely blissed out. And who wouldn’t when their prostate was being massaged by the person they love? Cas knew how that felt. That thought made him grin.

The former angel leaned down to kiss the inside of Dean’s thighs and then proceeded to suck a small bruise into one, while Dean was writhing underneath him. Then he looked at where his own fingers were moving in and out of Dean, spreading his loosened hole a little wider and admired that view for a moment, before he looked up at Dean’s face again to ask softly, “Are you ready?”

Dean’s eyes focused, locking with Cas’ and the hunter nodded, “Yeah. Yeah, ‘m ready. _Please_.” He even spread his legs a little wider for Cas.

The former angel found himself chuckling at that display of eagerness, though he could very well relate. Dean seemed to be enjoying this so far. Cas just hoped he wouldn’t mess it up. He bent down for a quick peck to Dean’s knee, before he pulled out his fingers. Dean made a sound of protest at the sudden feeling of emptiness and Cas responded with a cheeky, “Don’t worry, it’s only temporary…” He punctuated that with a wink as he reached for the tube of lube and the condom lying next to him. After discarding his own underwear, Cas rolled on the condom, coated himself liberally and let out a soft moan as he did so, feeling at least a slight bit of relief. Then he crawled up over Dean, hovering above him before pressing a gentle but passionate kiss to his lips as he lined himself up.

All of a sudden the radio on the table across the room turned itself on and started to play ‘Angel with a Shotgun’ by The Cab.

Dean and Cas stilled, looked over at the radio, then at each other and Dean chuckled, “Tara…”

Now Cas snickered as well, shaking his head, “Should I turn it off?”

“Nah, I like it. It’s a good song. Very fitting…”, he mumbled and kissed his angel’s neck.

Cas nudged at Dean’s loosened hole, kissing his jaw and slowly slid in.

Dean’s world was on fire. For a second he forgot how to breathe, forgot how to _think_. Never before he’d felt like this, so full, so complete. He used the hand he had on Cas’ back to press him down against himself and feel his heartbeat mingling with his own. Even the slight burn of the stretch felt distant, dulled by the mix of overwhelming sensation.

He pulled Cas into another deep kiss, feeling every move as his lover inched further into him, Dean moving his hips to meet him halfway.

“Christ,” he mumbled into Cas’ mouth, “ _Cas_ , Jesus.”

“Good?”

“So, _so_ good.”

When Cas bottomed out, Dean let out a bone-deep sigh of satisfaction, feeling so stretched, full and content.

They stayed like that, kissing deeply and rolling their hips together, for he didn’t know how long, he didn’t _care_ how long, because it was perfect. He’d never thought it would feel like this, if he’d known it would be this good, he wouldn’t have waited so long. But well, now they had more than enough time to make up for that…

Cas went slow at first, only pulling out about halfway before thrusting back in, and it made Dean’s eyes roll back in his head. He wrapped an arm around Cas’ waist, using the other to hold onto his shoulder, clinging to the muscle there as Cas thrusted in again and again, pulling sounds from the back of Dean’s throat he hadn’t even known he was capable of making.

Dean didn't even have to be asked to wrap his legs around Cas.

This new position gave Cas more room to maneuver and Dean moved with him, clutching onto Cas as he grew more accurate with his thrusts and slowly started to speed up.

Cas nailed Dean’s prostate with almost every thrust, making Dean cry out and when the hunter gave him a look that was a wordless request, he didn’t hesitate to lay his hand onto Dean’s shoulder, exactly where the handprint had once been. And it was so good. It was exceptionally good. The kind of good Dean had always wished for, but never dared to dream of.

Cas filled Dean up in every way that mattered, in every way he could want, his life, his heart, his soul, and yeah, his ass. Dean loved him, and Cas loved him back, and both their stomachs were gross and sticky with pre-come from his sorely neglected dick. They were as close as they could possibly get, the connection through their bond set aflame by the point of contact where Cas’ handprint used to be burnt into his skin. They were united in every way possible, in body and in soul. They were _one_. And it was _fucking amazing_.

Neither Dean nor Cas thought they could possibly feel any better than this.

They held tightly onto each other, trying to get as close as they could, moaning in-between their passionate kisses.

Dean could see his finish line rapidly approaching, and judging by the stuttering of Cas’ hips, he was just as close. It was too soon, Dean thought, he wanted it to last, but at the same time he finally wanted release. He was meeting Cas’ every thrust, both of them growing more desperate with every passing moment. Heat was coiling in Dean’s abdomen and Cas’ breath was hot against his mouth, mumbling Dean’s name, telling Dean he loved him, had always loved him, would always love him. And Dean was chanting Cas’ name over and over, like the prayer it was.

Dean came with Cas’ name on his lips, vision whiting out for a split second, holding desperately onto Cas, riding too high to see the ground. In a daze he whispered Cas’ full name into his skin with all the awe he could muster, all the reverence it deserved, the name of the celestial being who pulled him out of Hell, who fell for him, who saved him in so many ways. And Cas understood everything Dean wanted to tell him with that.

Cas scrunched his eyes shut tight when he came, crying out Dean’s name and a few words in Enochian Dean really wished he could understand. Then he collapsed on top of Dean, both of them panting, sticky with sweat and come.

They took a moment to catch their breath before Cas gently pulled out, got rid of the condom and rolled over to lie next to Dean. Cas reached for the wet tissues that were sitting on the nightstand on his side and wiped them both down before laying down beside Dean again, letting out a sigh of contentment.

Neither of them had noticed when the song had ended and the radio had stopped playing.

Dean rolled onto his side to look at Cas who looked just as blissed out and sated as Dean felt, blinking up at him with a dazed smile. Being able to have this at a regular basis was truly an exhilarating thought.

“Was it good?”, Cas asked softly.

Dean let out a laugh, “Good? That was fucking _awesome._ There’s no way we’re not gonna do this again.”

Cas grinned and Dean leaned over for a sweet kiss, pulling his fallen angel into his arms.

They stayed like that, wrapped up in each other’s warmth, just enjoying the afterglow. Before either one of them could nod off, Cas kissed the corner of Dean’s mouth and asked, “How’re you feeling?”

Dean shifted a bit, assessing the current situation and then replied, “Sore. But this was definitely worth it.”

Cas chuckled and murmured, “I have a feeling you’ll be feeling sore more often in the future…”

Dean snorted, “Yeah, I have the same feeling.”

They shared another long, soft and sweet kiss, before they fell asleep in a warm and loving embrace.

 

When Dean woke up in the morning, the first thing he saw was a pair of the most beautiful blue eyes in the world.

“Mornin' Sunshine,” he said softly.

Cas’ eyes were smiling as he rumbled a gravelly, “Hello Dean.”

Dean shifted a little in Cas’ arms and was promptly greeted by the soreness reminding him of their activities last night. The thought made him smile.

He gave Cas a gentle good morning kiss and then proceeded to get out of bed. Cas made a noise of protest, but Dean had a strong counter argument, “Breakfast, angel. I’m starving and as I know you, so are you. Now get up.”

Cas grumbled something under his breath but did as he was told. He really _was_ hungry after all. Why did Dean have to know him so well…

Since they both smelled like sex and didn’t really look presentable, they took a quick shower before making their way to the kitchen.

Cas took great pleasure in the way Dean was quite obviously walking funny. Dean knew there was no way he could hide that his ass was sore, Sam would notice right away that he was walking strangely and he’d tease him about it for at least the entire day. Cas reached over to squeeze Dean’s ass and the hunter responded by giving him a pseudo-scandalized glare. If he couldn't hide that he’d been fucked by Cas, there was no point in even trying in the first place, so Dean decided that if Sam was gonna be cheeky about it, he’d be the worst. Why had he never considered torturing his little brother with oversharing before? Well, at least not since his relationship with Cas. He quickly made sure his angel was okay with that idea, but Cas actually seemed to like it. This was a hilarious idea.

Walking into the kitchen, they were not only greeted by the smell of food, but also by Tara who was dancing across the room to ‘Can’t stop the feeling’, even using a wooden cooking spoon as microphone as she pretended to sing.

Cas and Dean just stood in the doorway for a moment, watching her. It was actually pretty entertaining. When she slid on her feet over the floor, she suddenly noticed them and abruptly froze mid-movement.

“Um… How much did you see?”, she asked awkwardly.

Dean chuckled, “Enough.”

“You’re a pretty good dancer.”, Cas added.

She rubbed her neck, “Nah, not really. You want breakfast?”

They both nodded and walked over to the stove where she’d prepared a few things. As soon as they had plates with food, they joined Tara at the table. Cas sat down first, but when Dean wanted to sit down next to him, he winced, abruptly jumping up again, then proceeded to sit down a lot more carefully. Cas suppressed a chuckle, while Tara had a shit eating grin on her face.

“And?”, she asked.

“And what.”, Dean shot back.

“Was it good?”

Dean thought of his earlier idea, cast a quick glance at Cas and smirked, “Hell yeah.”

Tara’s grin grew even wider, “That’s great, you two!”

Dean just chuckled, of course she wouldn’t be fazed by his tactics. Then something occurred to him, “Hey, where’s Sam?”

Tara took a sip of her tea that was standing in front of her and said, “Probably still asleep. He was out with me and Crowley last night and got pretty wasted.”

“What?”, Dean snorted, “Why did he go out with you and Crowley?”

“He didn’t wanna hear you guys having sex.”, she replied matter-of-factly, “Oh by the way, I promised him to install a soundproofing sigil in your room if that’s okay with you.”

Dean and Cas shared a look, then simultaneously shrugged.

“Okay cool, it’ll only take a few minutes, then no sound will get through as soon as the door is closed.”, she told them.

“Sounds reasonable.”, was Cas’ only comment.

“Where would an angel and a demon even go out?”, Dean wondered.

“A hunter’s bar.”, Tara answered before sipping her tea again.

“What?!”, Dean burst out, almost choking on his food.

She just shrugged, “What, it’s fun. No one knows who we really are, so everyone assumes we’re hunters as well. We simply like the thrill.”

Dean raised an eyebrow at her, “You two are crazy.”

She chuckled, “Says the guy who just got banged by the being who rescued him from Hell.”

Dean just rolled his eyes. She had a reply to fucking _everything_.

After another sip of her tea, she added, “But then again, you can’t spell subtext without buttsex, right?”

Cas tilted his head and narrowed his eyes and Dean gave his best bitchface of annoyance while Tara just snickered at her own joke.

After breakfast she proceeded to install the sigil in the couple’s bedroom. She placed it directly across the doorframe and the door itself, so that it’d only be active when the door would be closed. Then she took one look into the room, at the bed and snapped her fingers to clean the sheets and make the bed.

Just as she was done and left the room, Sam padded along the hallway.

“Morning,” he mumbled.

“Yeah morning.”, she sighed, “You look pathetic, come here.”

He slightly bent down towards her and she placed two fingers on his forehead, immediate relief flooding his body. When she drew back, he looked at her with his big, hazel puppy-eyes and said, “Thanks.”

She just gave him a smile, “No problem. Dean and Cas already had breakfast and are in the library. Oh and I installed the sigil you asked for.”

Sam smiled, “That’s great, thank you.”

She shrugged, “I’m just being a good sister.”

After getting some coffee, Sam wandered into the library where Dean was sitting on Cas’ lap, who was flipping through a book, one arm slung around Dean’s waist.

“Morning.”, he greeted them.

“Mornin’ Sam.”, Dean said.

“Good morning.”, was Cas’ response.

Sam didn’t catch what they were talking about, but Dean gave Cas a kiss to his cheek and stood up to get another book. That was when Sam noticed. Dean was walking differently. His bowlegs seemed… worse than usual. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together, essentially coming to the conclusion that his big brother had taken it up the ass last night. As much as he wanted to cringe at the thought, he also thought this would be a great opportunity to tease his brother. Dean might’ve come out of the closet, but he was still fairly easy to embarrass. Sam was proud of his brother and really happy for him and Cas, no doubt about it, but a bit of brotherly teasing just _had_ to be.

Grinning to himself, he sipped at his coffee and said, “Had a rough night?”

Dean placed another book on the table and looked up at his younger brother, raising an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

He didn’t even get _slightly_ red. Sam would have to get a bit more direct.

“Oh you know exactly what I mean. Did you decide to do a role-reversal to make your relationship more balanced or did you just finally give in to an urge or something? I mean, not that it bothers me, I’m actually kinda proud of you, but I don’t think your bowlegs could possibly get any worse than now.”, Sam said almost nonchalantly, only betrayed by the grin he was not very successful at suppressing.

Dean looked a bit taken aback for a moment, but didn’t blush or sputter or anything. No, instead he looked over at Cas and then turned back to Sam with a smirk and an evil glint in his eyes.

“Yeah well, actually a bit of both, y’know? You better get used to seeing me walk like this, because that wasn’t a one-time thing.”, Dean told him smoothly.

“I can confirm that Dean greatly enjoyed our activities last night.”, Cas chimed in, way better at hiding his smirk than the others, but his eyes betrayed him still.

“Hells yeah,” Dean grinned at him, “You gave it to me good last night, ain’t that right angel?”

Oh no, they were teaming up against him. _Abort mission, abort mission_ …

“Oh my God, Dean. Too much information!”, Sam cried, covering his ears.

Now Dean laughed out loud, even bending over where he was standing, “Serves you right for trying to tease me like that!”

Sam crossed his arms, shot him his best Bitchface™ and mumbled, “Jerk.”

“Bitch.”, came Dean’s reply.

“Assbutts.”, Cas added. The brothers instantly turned to look at him, and then they all simultaneously burst out laughing.

When the laughter started to dissipate, Tara wiped tears from her eyes where she was standing in the doorway and said, “Dorks.”

Dean was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes and was still chuckling as he said, “I’m gonna make us some lunch.”

As he walked past Tara to leave the room, she raised her hand slightly to brush against his arm, healing him. “Thanks,” he mumbled and left for the kitchen, Cas soon following after.

 

Dean was standing at the kitchen counter, preparing some vegetables as a side dish, when Cas came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his lover. Dean instantly leaned into him, resting his head against Cas’.

“Tara healed you, didn’t she?”, Cas asked.

Dean chuckled, “Yeah. But I don’t think it’ll last for long…”

“Hm…”, Cas hummed, tightening his arms around his hunter.

They stood like that for several moments, just enjoying being close to each other. Then Dean spoke again, softly, almost like a whisper, “You won’t leave me, right Cas?”

Cas’ eyes shot open, looking up at Dean’s face, his arms tightening even more, holding him close.

“No Dean, never.”, he said firmly and placed a kiss on Dean’s cheek, “I couldn’t.”

Then he buried his face in Dean’s neck, breathing deep and mumbled barely audible into his skin, “I’m too far gone…”

Dean let his head lull back, resting it on his fallen angel’s shoulder, nuzzled his face and said, “Good. That’s good… ‘Cause you won’t get rid of me either.”

There was a pause where they just breathed each other in, then Dean softly said something he didn’t say very often, “I love you.”

Every day he told Cas through a thousand little things, but he rarely actually spoke the words. But every time he did, it seemed to become easier for him to say them. And every time Cas heard them from Dean, his heart made a jump, spreading warmth in his chest.

The fallen angel let out a slightly shaky breath, “I love you too, Dean.”

Cas looked up again, their eyes locking and the world around them seemed to dim and almost disappear. Dean turned around in Cas’ arms and brought his hands up to cup his face as he leaned in to press a long, sweet kiss to Cas’ lips. The love of his life.

They might not have had much, but what they’d got was gold.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been in my head since I've started this series and I'm glad that I finally managed to finish this piece. Make sure to leave me kudos and/or a comment, they are my life!
> 
> I might put this series on pause for a while, I still have a few ideas for at least two or three more sequels, but at the moment I just don't feel like writing any of them. But that doesn't mean I never will! At least one of them will definitely happen, I promise, I just can't tell when.


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